We Don’t Have to Make a Bed in Our Shame

There are times when I’ve said or done something that I wish I could take back. Usually, it’s words I’ve spoken—gossip I didn’t mean to spread but let slip anyway. In the moment, it might have felt harmless or even funny, but afterward, I realize it doesn’t represent the person I want to be. I beat myself up over it, replaying it in my mind, feeling heavy with regret.

Over time, I’ve learned that staying in that shame doesn’t help anyone—not me, not the person I hurt. There’s a choice I can make: do I sink into guilt, letting it define me, or do I take a step forward and try to make it right? More often than not, that step looks like going back to the person I spoke it to and saying, “I shouldn’t have said that. I was wrong.” And yes, sometimes they’re surprised that I even brought it up again. But that honesty, that willingness to own my mistake, usually opens the door for conversation.

It’s a reminder to me that shame doesn’t have to become home. We don’t have to make a bed in it. Mistakes happen—we all mess up. But grace is always running our way, and we were made for more than living under the weight of our errors. There’s freedom in acknowledging the wrong, asking for forgiveness, and choosing to do better next time.

There’s a song by Josh Baldwin that I love, which speaks right to this. It lifts my spirits every time I hear it, and I sing it out loud in the house or my car a lot. It’s a beautiful reminder that we truly were made for more. Listen below.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

November 7, 2025 Morning Brew

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